


The View from the Sky

by AkozuHeiwa



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Ajim is already established and in the background, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Secret Santa, this is so very fluffy and i hope you like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkozuHeiwa/pseuds/AkozuHeiwa
Summary: Krel is not especially looking forward to skiing (and subsequently failing to ski) - it's a good thing Toby came up with an alternative.
Relationships: Jim Lake Jr./Aja Tarron, Toby Domzalski/Krel Tarron
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	The View from the Sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spideyfool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideyfool/gifts).



> This is a Secret Santa gift for a friend of mine in the Krel Discord server! I really hope you enjoy the fic and have a wonderful rest of 2020 hun!! 💕💕💕

It was actually Jim’s idea to go spend a week at a “ski resort” during winter break, and by some miracle Aja was able to swing a break to come along. Krel still isn’t sure what “ski” means, but “resort” means something good so he’s looking forward to it. He and Toby are in the backseat of Toby’s Nana’s car while Jim drives and Aja immediately claimed the passenger seat to sit next to her boyfriend. That’s okay, Krel doesn’t mind spending the hour or so trip sitting next to Toby.

It’s not the first time he’s been out of Arcadia, but it’s definitely the farthest he’s been. Toby points landmarks out as they pass them and Krel spends the trip with his face plastered to the window. As they get further from Arcadia and higher in elevation towards the end of the car ride, though, things get really strange. He starts seeing white stuff on the ground, which actually he’s seen on TV before but he’s never seen it in Arcadia so he has no idea what it is.

“Oh, man, if we can already see snow I bet there’s a ton up the mountain,” says Toby, peering over Krel’s shoulder out the window. Krel has heard that word in the songs that keep playing on the radio while Toby complains about them all being “Chris-mass” songs and how some people don’t celebrate that.

Aja beats him to asking. “What is this snow?”

“It’s like frozen rain but better because it’s fluffy,” says Toby.

“How can ice be fluffy?” scoffs Krel. “Ice is ice. It’s slippery and hard.”

“Yeah, but snow is more like, uh, it’s less dense,” says Toby. “Like – like, uh – you know what, I’ll show you when we get there.”

“Oh, there will be more of it?” Aja exclaims delightedly.

“Yeah, snow is the stuff we’ll be skiing on,” says Jim, glancing at her with a fond smile. Krel rolls his eyes. Ugh. They’re so sappy. “Trust me, it’s gonna be a blast. You’ll get the hang of it right away.”

The way it usually goes when Krel is trying a new sport is pretty simple: Krel tries, Krel fails, Krel gets hurt. He is not looking forward to that specific sequence of events. Steve has pretty much given up trying to get him into a sport after that one time he got knocked out and it turned out Steve didn’t know Akiridions don’t have pulses, so Steve thought he was dead. This probably won’t go much better.

There’s more and more snow the closer they get until it eventually coats the ground pretty evenly. Krel has a lot of very scientific questions about it. They don’t get snow on Akiridion-5. They don’t even get rain. It must not be cold enough for it in Arcadia. He knows the basic properties of water and that ice melts at a certain temperature that his home stays well above most of the time. This must be why Jim’s mother insisted they all bring so many layers of clothing. Krel figures it’s okay, because Toby says the hat with the little puffball is cute on him.

Jim parks and they all file out of the car, adjusting their jackets and gloves and scarves and hats. Toby wears an Akiridion blue scarf that doesn’t match his outfit that he says reminds him of Krel.

“Okay, who’s skiing?” asks Jim. “I need to get tickets.”

“Oh, me!” Aja exclaims, bouncing on her heels and raising a hand like they were taught in school. Only one hand. Krel has gotten very good at that. It gets to the point that the teachers ask if anyone _other_ than Krel can answer their questions.

His hesitance must show on his face, because Toby plasters an easy smile on his own and steps forward. “Actually, me and Krel had different plans. We’ll meet up with you two lovebirds a bit later for dinner.”

Jim raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Oh, I gotcha, Tobes. See you later.”

He winks as he leaves, which means something but Krel isn’t sure what. Toby’s cheeks are red, probably from the cold. Jim murmurs something to Aja as they walk and she laughs loudly. Krel is concerned.

“Uh, we had something planned?” Krel asks Toby, because he certainly doesn’t have any idea what’s going on.

“Well, I had an idea, and I saw you weren’t exactly thrilled to go skiing.” Toby fiddles with his gloves awkwardly and smiles up at Krel. Toby’s the only person Krel knows that’s shorter than him. “We, uh, don’t have to if you don’t want to, but there’s also a sky chair ride here and I figured you’d like seeing the sights.”

Seeing the sights sounds much better than getting hurt trying to ski, whatever that even is. Krel smiles back and puts a hand on Toby’s shoulder. “That sounds great, Toby.”

Toby’s smile brightens, which in and of itself is worth agreeing to his idea. But Toby’s his best friend and he knows him well, so he’s certain he’ll enjoy this sky chair ride. Toby takes his hand as the walk over to purchase tickets. He’s already fishing out his wallet when they get there.

“I can–”

“Don’t worry about it,” Toby cuts him off. “I’ve got this. You can buy me dinner later, we’ll call it even.”

“It’s a date,” says Krel, because he’s heard that saying before, except that makes his cheeks heat up. Dumb human body. He can’t tell if Toby’s cheeks are red from the cold still or if he’s blushing too.

“Right, yeah,” Toby says. “Uh – this way, there’s the ticket desk.”

Krel follows him. He definitely makes note of the fact that Toby hasn’t let go of his hand. The feel of it is reassuring. Toby places his card on the counter and smiles at the cashier. “Two tickets for the sky chair ride, please.”

“Will that be all for you, sir?” the cashier asks, glancing between them, face softening.

“Yep, thanks,” says Toby.

“That’ll be $53.88,” says the cashier. Krel doesn’t know how money works quite yet, but he thinks that’s a lot. He gives Toby a look, which Toby returns innocently as he pays. Krel definitely owes him more than dinner. “There are maps in the front to show you how to get there.”

“Thank you,” Krel says. Toby tugs at his hand and leads him over to the maps. Krel grabs one and shakes it until it opens because he doesn’t really want to let go of Toby’s hand quite yet.

“Alright,” says Toby, grabbing the other side of the map with his free hand so they can hold it in front of them. “Looks like it’s right over that way. Come on, you’re going to love this. You can see all the way to Arcadia!”

Krel smiles fondly at his enthusiasm and follows him. The snow crunches under their boots, leaving footprints behind them in the otherwise untarnished white. It is fluffy, sort of, if Krel stretches the meaning of the word. It looks fluffy, at least. Krel still has a lot of questions. Like what is a snow-man? Is that a job or something, or are their life forms on Earth made of snow?

Before he knows it, Toby’s handing over their tickets and their climbing into the sky chair ride. Krel peers over the edge, then glances up, then back at Toby. “Is this thing safe?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Toby says. “And if something does happen, I got my hammer.”

Well. Krel supposes that is comforting, since Toby can fly with his hammer and he already knows Toby can carry him. The lift sways as it leaves the ground and starts tracking upward. As the snow below them gets farther and farther away, Krel can see more and more of the surrounding landscape. Toby holds his hand still.

“It really is beautiful,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, you are,” Toby sighs. Krel glances back at him, eyebrows shooting up far faster than the lift is. Toby’s entire face goes red. “It is! _It_ is beautiful. Not that you aren’t but that’s not what I meant to say, I meant to say the view is beautiful.”

Krel’s own face heats up again. “Oh. Um, thank you.”

He looks to the view again. Just as promised, he can make out the familiar city of Arcadia, miles away. His eyesight isn’t as good in this form, but he’s fairly certain that’s it. He nudges Toby and points.

“Home sweet home,” Toby agrees. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah,” Krel agrees. “This is much more fun than skiing, I think.”

Not that he knows what skiing is, but being up here with his best friend and a view that spreads for miles is amazing. He can see people out on the snow, rocketing downhill – that must actually be skiing – and cars on the highway. Krel’s home, Earth and its humans.

Small flecks of white begin to float past them, at first so few that Krel thinks he’s seeing things, but quickly becoming more numerous. Krel holds out a hand to catch them in his palm – ice, by the way they quickly melt from the body heat of this form.

“Hey, it’s snowing,” says Toby brightly.

“Huh,” Krel says, “snowing.”

“Pretty, huh?” Toby says, not looking at him but rather beaming at the snowflakes falling around them. Krel can’t help but soften at the sparkle in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Krel says, still looking at Toby, “you are.”

Toby’s eyes dart to him in surprise and his face goes red. Krel’s face must be bright blue, too. He’s aware he’s echoing Toby from earlier but it’s also true. Seklos, Krel isn’t good at this.

“You, uh, think so?” Toby mumbles, fiddling with the end of his scarf.

Krel adjusts his hat and smiles shyly. “Uh, yeah. Yeah. I do.”

“Have you caught on that this is kinda a date?” Toby asks. The smile on his face is shy and amused at the same time. A date. That makes a lot of sense – the getting away from Aja and Jim, the holding hands, the romantic view.

“Not until you just told me,” Krel admits. “But… we do have another one after this, right? For dinner.”

Toby’s cheeks go even redder. By now Krel knows for sure it isn’t the cold bringing the colour to Toby’s cheeks but rather the same flustered warmth Krel feels. Toby _likes_ him. And he likes Toby back.

“Yeah,” Toby says, “I guess we do.”

Krel scoots closer, then wraps his arm around Toby’s. Toby entwines their fingers. They return their attention to the snow floating down around them. Krel feels cosier than before, content with his closest friend and perhaps more even in the cold winter air.

“This was a good first date,” he murmurs.

“Yeah,” Toby says fondly, “it was.”


End file.
